Tech Race
by juliaspov
Summary: Someone is grabbing up alien tech that falls through the Rift. Can Jack, Gwen and Ianto catch them? Set post S2. Slight Jack/Ianto
1. Chapter 1

Kat moved silently towards the end of the street, staying in the shadows of a shuttered building until she reached the corner. Looking around the edge of the building she stopped and stared in disbelief. On the nearly deserted street ahead of her was a familiar black SUV.

Torchwood.

They were always right there with her if not one step ahead, getting in her way. Icy determination settled over her as she continued down the street to peer cautiously into the alleyway.

Damn! There they were. A woman and a young man talking quietly to each other in the darkened alley, highlighted by a strange blue glow being emitted by something on the far side of a large rubbish bin.

With no hesitation she crouched down next to the corner of the building, pulling out her gun at the same time. She drew in a slow, deliberate breath letting it out silently. She needed to see what it was that had fallen through the rift, to know if it was the item she was looking for. The energy signatures were a match and that knowledge alone far outweighed the possible risk of discovery. If this was the item she needed then she was prepared to take the object by force.

Leaning further out into the alley she stretched as far as she could until she caught just a brief glimpse of the object. It was a metallic orb, about the size of a football, and glowing with electric blue energy. It was definitely not the object she was looking for. Frustration churned at her stomach. The race continues.

As she pulled away her boot heel scraped carelessly across the ground and she saw the young man turn his head at the noise. Without waiting she retreated back into the shadows and ran back in the direction she had come.

***

Ianto and Gwen stood waiting for the alien device to cool down enough so they could touch it. "Why do you think it's so hot?" Gwen questioned as she crouched down next to it to get a better look. The orb was beautiful. A smooth silver ball with lines of glowing hieroglyphics and swirling blue waves of energy.

"Might have something to do with the rift energy. If it has been tumbling around the rift for a while it could have soaked up energy and become overheated. If that's the case I would think it's not very stable and we should consider destroying it before something happens."

The scanner in Gwen's hand gave a sharp beep. "Another rift spike. That's the third one within the last five minutes." Her eyes were drawn back to the hypnotic beauty of the orb as she stood up. "This little thing seems to be drawing them in." They stood looking at the object, watching as the bright blue glow faded into just a warm blue light. "A few more minutes and it should be cool enough to handle. I'll go get the gloves then."

A strange scraping noise caught Ianto's attention and he turned his head, noticing a flash of movement at the far end of the alleyway. "Gwen, we have company."

Rushing after the departing shadow he rounded the corner just in time to see it disappear down a side street. He raced to catch the observer but by the time he reached the corner they had completely vanished.

Ianto walked slowly down the street watching both sides of the road, looking for anything that might direct him to where the person had disappeared to. Nothing moved. The only sounds to be heard were the distant voices and laughter coming from outside the pub a block over. He had had this feeling before, of being watched whilst they were out on a mission. But this was the first time he had visual confirmation that someone was actually there, watching, and if he were honest about it he found it slightly unsettling.

***

Kat quickly ducked behind the portable perception screen she had set up next to the steps of a deserted building. She pulled open the messenger bag that was slung across her back and slid out a laptop. Opening it she quickly hooked up her scanner and pulled up a scan detection program. The computer program sifted quickly through the background energy before levelling out.

She didn't have long to wait because soon, too soon, the young man came running around the corner slowing down as he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Kat watched intently as he got closer and unconsciously held her breath as he stopped not three meters from her hiding spot.

The gun dug into her back as if reminding her that it was there but she knew she wouldn't be using it tonight. It wouldn't do to kill a Torchwood agent. If rumours were correct that would be like calling down certain death upon yourself. A threat, she felt, that could be easily dealt with, but for now she wasn't about to take any chances. She was still missing a piece of the puzzle and until she had it she had to leave Torchwood alone. Watch but not kill.

The man stood silently, his sharp gaze seeing everything, listening intently. There was a muted flash on the computer screen that drew her attention. The scan detector was picking up a faint signal but couldn't get a lock on it.

Slowly, carefully Kat pulled out her gun and held it ready. If the scan grew more powerful, or turned in her direction, this Torchwood agent would find her for certain. She watched him, waiting for the first sign that he detected her. He wasn't checking for a readout from anything and there was nothing in his hands. What type of scanner was he using!

A gust of wind blew some bits of paper across the road, briefly drawing the man's attention. Her gun never wavering, Kat glanced away from him and silently pressed a few keys on the laptop . She needed some readings to devise a defence for this new type of scanner. It must be some alien design she wasn't familiar with, but that wouldn't be a problem for long.

***

Ianto looked around, his gaze probing into the shadowy corners. It all seemed quiet but he still had the strange feeling that someone was there watching. He stood still, listening for any sound but only heard the normal sounds of a city at night.

Gwen came running around the corner and stopped when she saw him. "Anything?"

Ianto shook his head. "Lets get back to the hub." He tried to shake the feeling that they were still being watched, but it continued to follow him until they turned the corner.

His eyes automatically kept skipping around the area looking for any innocent reason as to why someone was peeking around corners and then running, but saw nothing. A security camera mounted to the corner of a building drew his attention and he made a mental note of the address. If he could hack into the surveillance video he may be able to pull an image of the shadow he had been chasing.

"Ianto." Gwen was already climbing into the SUV.

Time to return to the task at hand. Gwen had to be taken home and the mysterious blue orb had to be taken back to the hub and locked away.

***

Kat forced herself to wait in her hiding spot a full five minutes before moving, making sure the two Torchwood agents had truly left. She was eager to continue her work but there was no reason to take any more chances tonight.

Quickly packing up her equipment she went back to where they had found the alien device and took some residual imaging scans and a trace particles reading. The artefact may not be the one she was looking for but the current information may be useful sometime in the future and it was better to be prepared.

There was a muffled step behind her and she reacted instinctively, quickly spinning down into a crouch. Sliding the scanner into a pocket and pulling out her gun in one smooth motion. A young couple wandered into view but they were only interested in each other and didn't seem to notice the gun trained on them at the moment. Kat quickly lowered the weapon and moved it out of sight. She was getting jumpy. That was a bad sign. She needed to find the focusing key and get out of this city.

The couple passed out of sight before Kat stood again and headed out of the alley in the opposite direction, back towards where she had parked her car. Glancing at her watch she saw that it was early yet. Not even ten. There was an open supermarket just up the street and she decided to stop in. Cardiff would never measure up to her New York standards but it had the basic necessities.

The store had very few people in it at that time of night and Kat found what she wanted quickly. She set down the apple and bottle of water at the only open register.

"Well Hi. I almost didn't recognize you with your hair cut."

The young, gum chewing girl must have been talking to someone else but when Kat looked around she was the only one in sight. "I'm sorry you must have me confused with someone else." She quickly paid and grabbed up her purchases before the girl could question her further. That was the second time in as many days that someone seemed to recognize her. It could be dangerous. She had better try to find out who this person was to prevent possible damage to her mission. People remember seeing a familiar face. But then again it could also possibly be used to her advantage, a red herring if someone was looking for her. She needed to find out for certain.

***

Ianto wound his way through the maze of corridors on the sub levels below the archives, his footsteps echoing hollowly on the cold cement floor as he neared his destination. The solitary door was set at the far end of the corridor furthest away from the hub. The security pad to the right of the door showed that the security was still active and running smoothly. Punching in a security code he unlocked the door and pulled it open. The rusty hinges giving way reluctantly to reveal a small room, empty but for a table and chair set against one wall. Ianto shivered in the cold dead air as he set the alien object on the table and quickly turned to leave. He wasn't usually claustrophobic but the thick heavy walls and secluded location were not comfortable to him this evening. Making sure the door latched completely he typed in the security code to lock it once more. That room could contain anything from an explosion to a rift spike and he wanted to make sure if either occurred it would stay contained.

Making his way back through the corridors he paused at the bottom of the stairs leading back up to his archives before entering the storage room to his left. A soft light flickered on revealing a warm and inviting room with a large bed set against the far wall.

Massaging lightly at the tense muscles in his neck Ianto pulled off his coat and tie, hanging them in the wardrobe set in the corner of the room before kicking off his shoes. He dug his toes into the thick rug covering the cold floor as he quickly shed the rest of his clothes. Throwing them over a chair he climbed into the large bed wearing just his boxers. He turned off the light and gave a satisfied sigh as he slid between the silky sheets and warm duvet letting his body relax completely. The events of the day, weevils, retcon, and rift spikes, continued to spin out of control through his thoughts but he forcibly drove them out, one by one. Letting his mind start to relax as completely as his body.

Burrowing deeper under the covers he heard the door open and close and knew Jack had entered the room. The soft rustling sounds let Ianto know that Jack had taken off his shoes, shirt, and trousers before lifting the covers and sliding into bed with him.

"You're not getting any tonight, Jack. I'm much too tired."

There was a smile in Jacks voice and Ianto felt his arms slide around his waist. "Is that a challenge?" Before he could reply Jack continued, "But who said I wanted anything? I'm expecting a call in half an hour so I thought maybe we could just cuddle for a few minutes until I have to get back to work."

Ianto rolled over and buried his face into the curve of Jacks shoulder wrapping an arm around his waist. He felt Jacks lips on his forehead and let the exhaustion creep over him as he relaxed deeper into Jacks warmth, starting to drift off sleepily. "We were watched tonight."

Jack stiffen slightly at this comment. "Did you get a look at the guy?"

"It was just a shadow that disappeared down a side street. I'll check the CCTV footage in the morning to see if we can get an ID."

His sleepy murmur drifted away leaving Jack with a number of questions, but as he felt Ianto's slow even breathing he knew they would have to wait until morning. His young lover needed to sleep and Jack needed to talk to some thick headed bureaucrats. The secrecy was tearing him up inside and his friends deserved to know the truth.

***

"I don't give a damn what you think! These are my people and I think they need to know." Jack's angry voice echoed around the deserted hub. "You can threaten all you want but they know what they're doing and would be more of an asset to everyone if they were let in on your little problem."

Jack paced angrily back and forth behind his desk listening as the person on the line tried to force him into seeing things their way. It wasn't working.

"If my people are kept out of the loop then you may as well leave the whole of Torchwood Three out of your loop. I don't keep secrets from my team if it will put them in any kind of danger. So why don't I just put that in a nice little report and you can shove it up your…" A hand came out of nowhere and covered his mouth as the other hand grabbed the phone away and hung it up.

Jack spun around, his emotions still fired up, to find Ianto standing behind him wearing nothing but black, drawstring pyjama bottoms riding low on his hips. His calm expression and bare chest caused much of Jack's anger drain away. "Where did you come from?"

"I came to find out if you were coming down to bed or if you were just going to relax up here in your bunker, but it appears that I got here just in time to save you from making a big mistake."

"They wanted me to send you and Gwen out on a recon mission without letting you know why or even what you were watching. I couldn't let that happen." Jack felt his anger start to rise again only to morph into a completely different emotion as Ianto pressed a hand against his cheek.

"Of course you couldn't and when Gwen arrives in the morning we will all discuss it together, but for now let's let it go and find something more… relaxing… to concentrate on." He quirked an eyebrow at Jack drawing his hand away and taking a step back.

Jack's eyes narrowed and he gave Ianto a heated look as he took a step forward, all thoughts of secrecy and bureaucrats evaporating into nothingness. "Relaxing? I've got just the thing."

***

Kat took a sip from her water bottle whilst staring intently at the three dimensional holographic map of the earth that was suspended in front of her. With an angry flick of her finger she started the globe rotating slowly. The Cardiff area rift was marked by a bright yellow slash as was an area near New York City, with a number of bright red and darker red points scattered around the globe marking other areas with minor rift activity. She scowled at the number of small rift spikes that were registering on the map. The energy signatures did not match the ones she was looking for, but still, how was she supposed to follow up on even half of them?


	2. Chapter 2

"An entire Tolien Warship was sucked into the rift where it was broken apart into numerous pieces. The pieces have started to spin out of every rip, crack and fold of the rift and they are all aimed at Earth. As pieces of the ship are spat out someone has been going around collecting certain bits. They have been picking and choosing what they take and are ruthless to get what they want."

Jack sat at the head of the briefing room table with Ianto and Gwen on either side of him. Their morning coffee growing cold as they listened to him speak. "Three agents have died so far trying to retrieve artefacts. They don't know for certain what the thief has been collecting but an agent that survived the second ambush said they had found what appeared to be an anterior trigger. Part of an experimental weapon the Tolien's developed to be controlled mentally from great distances. UNIT, MI5 and various government agencies have joined forces to stop this organization. The problem is they have no idea who is running it or how many members there are."

Jack pointed to an aerial view of Cardiff on the monitor in front of him. "Late yesterday UNIT caught an energy fluctuation on the edge of a satellite scan and wanted us to do a little reconnaissance work for them. They believe this warehouse is where the organization is currently based. They wanted us to find out what is actually in the warehouse, how many people, and what kind of security they have. If there are any deliveries going in or out that could be waylaid and searched, or personnel that could be turned or used. There would be no back up from them, just the three of us doing a job meant for twenty." He stopped talking and looked between Gwen and Ianto giving them a chance to speak.

"Is this where you told them to stick it up their arse?"

Jacks lips twitched into an guilty smile. "Basically, yes."

Gwen slapped a hand down on the table. "And rightly so. I can't believe that they wanted us to go in without knowing what we were getting in to. With no back up even! We would probably have been killed and they wouldn't have cared except to mark off one way it didn't work." She leant back in her chair and crossed her arms looking disgusted. "Bloody bureaucrats."

Ianto cleared his throat. "It might take them a while to rethink their strategy and get a team down here." He looked at the other two and shrugged. "Maybe we should pop over to the warehouse and check out the set up. We'll probably be the ones that have to clean up their mess when they're done." Jack was looking at him, an approving grin lighting up his face.

Gwen gave a slow nod of agreement, a smile of her own starting to curl at the corners of her lips. "Maybe you're right. It wouldn't hurt to get a look at the set up."

Jack sat back in his chair looking thoughtful. "If there is alien tech being hidden in the warehouse you can bet that there will be alien tech used for the security system. We need a way to work around that."

There was silence around the table as the three considered this new problem.

"What if there was a way we could force an energy surge in the area? It might throw off the security system and get us in closer to run some scans."

Jack kept his eyes on Ianto. "Interesting idea, but how?"

"I was thinking about the orb we picked up yesterday." Ianto shrugged again. "I put it down in the sub level secure storage since it seemed to be acting as a lightning rod for rift activity."

"Dangerous?"

Understanding dawned on Gwen and she shook her head. "The rift spikes that we were reading were all very minor, just energy spikes, but there were a lot of them."

Jack nodded thoughtfully, making a decision. "Okay, here's what we're going to do." He leant forward, gesturing with his hands. "Gwen, I want you to try and get a picture of the person that was watching you from the CCTV footage, then go down to the scene and start asking questions, see if anyone saw anything. Hopefully we can get a good enough picture from the CCTV to jog someone's memory. Try to get more information about the people we're after." He looked at Ianto. "Ianto, while she's out asking questions I want you to make sure that orb you found is safe and if it will do what we need it to do. It plays a pretty important part in this plan." There was a keen look in his eyes. "While you two are doing that, I'm going to drive by the warehouse to see what it looks like, if there's anything obviously out of place. Check out the area, maybe take a few passive scans." He looked at his two team-mates. "Any questions?" He smiled as they both shook their heads silently. "Then let's go."

Jack had grabbed his greatcoat and was about to leave when Ianto stopped him and handed him his car keys. "We don't need anyone recognizing the SUV."

Jack caught the quick glint of apprehension in Ianto's eyes before it was carefully hidden away. "Don't worry. I'm just going to look at the place, and a passive scan won't trigger any alarms."

"Something is telling me that there is more to this mission than we think there is so use some caution." He gave Jack a small smile. "And be sure to bring my car back in one piece this time. Fenders and bumpers still in place and no speeding tickets."

Jack pouted. "Hey, I'm a great driver. That last time wasn't my fault."

Ianto laughed and just shook his head as he pushed Jack towards the door.

***

Kat pulled the overhead light down over her work bench trying to get a better view of the delicate strands of light she was working on. The coolness of the warehouse eased the sweat on her brow as she carefully fused two more strands of the fibre-optics. She set the mechanism down and hooked up a power converter to it. Time to test her work.

The glow from the strands increased and the computer readings levelled out. Her eyes narrowed with triumph as a satisfied smile started to cross her face.

The unexpected power overload caused her to jump back as tiny sparks shot up into her face, and her good mood came crashing down. "Damn it!" She threw her tools down on the work bench in frustration. She needed the Tolien focusing key. There was no way she could create one out of the junk she had available to her.

Turning to her computer she pulled up the rift activity prediction program she had been developing. She hadn't perfected it yet and there were still a lot of bugs in the system but it was better than nothing. The stream of numbers passing across the screen would mean nothing to most anyone but to Kat it showed that the rift was acting up a bit today and chances were good that something would be coming through soon. She gathered up some equipment and packed it in her messenger bag. Better to be ready just in case.

***

Jacks trip to the warehouse was delayed when he had to make a detour to catch a weevil that was running loose in the park. As usual, the occurrence had to be dealt with quickly, but within two hours Jack had the weevil down in a holding cell and was currently standing behind Gwen at Tosh's computer station. "Have you found anything yet?"

"I can tell you that it's a woman with short dark hair, between 160 and 165 centimetres tall." She pulled up a blurred, grainy picture on the monitor. It had obviously been taken at a distance, enlarged and enhanced to try to bring out more detail. "This is the best shot I could find and I doubt that we will be able to find anything more. She must have been using some sort of scrambling device." A string of video shots scrolled across the screen. "I can follow her path for a short while by following the CCTV footage that is static filled and corrupted, but then we lose her trail."

"Well, a description and general area is better than nothing and we're running out of time. Gwen, go see what you can find out." He tapped his comlink to call down to the archives where Ianto was still working. "Ianto, let's leave the orb until later and have you come with me. I could use an extra set of eyes when I check out the warehouse."

***

Kat reset the perimeter alarm, again, and turned away from the security monitor with a scowl on her face. The number of homeless people living in this area was minimal but they still managed to trip her security at least twice a day and today she was in a bad mood.

A cold smile graced her lips as she reached out and ran a caressing hand over the Tolien Atomizer. The weapon gave a low thrum when she activated the power cylinder before becoming silent and she pulled up the view outside her warehouse on it's viewer screen looking for a little target practice. The perimeter alarm beeped again and Kat toggled the viewer to watch two men stagger against her warehouse. The actual Tolien viewer had been damaged beyond repair so she had wired together parts from a computer monitor and television screen, but the picture came through strong and clear as she watched the men sit down next to an adjacent warehouse.

She focused the directional point in on the two men, watching as they passed a bottle of something back and forth. The viewpoint levelled out and she pressed a button. Nothing happened. She pursed her lips and frowned. The focus was drifting. She pulled up the directional point again.

The two men had finished their conversation along with their bottle, and one had gotten up to leave. Kat continued to try to focus in on the man still sitting against the warehouse. She kept adjusting the viewpoint and pressed the button as soon as she thought she had a lock. The man sitting against the warehouse was still there but his companion had disappeared completely. She grunted to herself. At least she knew the Atomizer worked but it also proved that the focusing key was vital to her. Nothing else mattered. She turned away to pull up the rift activity prediction program and was soon deep into adjusting and updating it, hoping to increase it's accuracy to one hundred percent. She didn't notice the black sports car being driven casually down the street as the two men inside looked around the area.

***

"That's the warehouse." Jack looked around from the drivers seat of Ianto's car. "Everything looks normal. No obvious alien tech. Nothing out of the ordinary at all." He looked pleased. "Maybe the great UNIT was wrong after all. What are you picking up with the passive scan?"

"There is an increased EM field around the warehouse, but nothing that is completely unusual. There are no alien chemical compounds in the air and there are no life signs coming through but then this scan is pretty mild." The two men followed the road along the side of the building to circle around the back before heading towards the exit. Ianto quietly pointed to the large number of security cameras mounted to the sides and corners of the building that seemed to have a strange number of antennas coming out of them.

Jack grimaced "Okay, so we may have a problem. Can we tell where they feed to?"

"With some luck we may be able to pick up it's signal but that would take the use of Tosh's computer and more than a passive scan."

"Lets regroup back at the hub. Call Gwen and have her meet us there when she's done."

The car engine gave a low growl as Jack shifted gears and started to pick up speed.

Ianto felt a little itch in the back of his mind as he pulled out his phone. Something felt wrong. He watched as a drunken man crawled around in a circle patting the ground. "Charlie? Where'd ya go?" Jack shifted gears again and careened around a corner towards the exit. The strange actions of the man were lost from sight leaving Ianto to wonder about Charlie.

A hand sliding across his shoulder and caressing his neck distracted him from his thoughts after talking with Gwen . He firmly pulled Jacks arm away from him and pushed it back towards the steering wheel earning himself a pouting glance. "Two hands on the wheel, please."

"You're no fun."

"Work to do." The quiet reminder was delivered with a small smile and Ianto kept his attention on the buildings around them until Jacks attention was back on the road. He soon put his own arm along the back of the seat to tug at Jack's earlobe and run his fingers through the short hairs tickling the back of his neck. Jacks lips curved into a smile as his hand left the steering wheel and strayed to Ianto's thigh. It was quickly swatted it away and Ianto stopped his caresses until the hand was once again firmly back on the wheel where it belonged before resuming his touch. Jack gave him a low frustrated growl but Ianto only smiled at him.

***

Gwen put her phone away after Ianto's call. Frustration gnawed at her at the lack of response to her inquiries but there was one more place she wanted to check. She had told Ianto she would meet them back at the hub in a couple of hours so with a quick glance at her watch she decided she had time to stop at the grocery she was passing before trying the pub on the next street.

As she pulled open her wallet and started digging for a few coins to pay for the bottle of water she had picked up, a picture slipped out and landed on the counter. It was a picture of Rhys with his arm around her and Tosh taken last year at the pub.

"Is she a friend of yours? Tell her I really like her hair cut."

Gwen looked at the girl behind the counter. "Who?"

The girl pointed to the picture of Tosh. "I saw it when she was in here last night but she left so quickly I didn't get a chance to tell her."

Gwen gave the girl a blank look. "You saw Tosh? This woman?"

"Yep. She used to come in all the time. Hasn't been in for a while though."

"What time was that at?"

"It was around nine thirty." The young woman was looking at her with worry.

"Did she say anything? Did you see which direction she went?"

"She just said I had her confused with someone else. I didn't know she was American." The girl looked at Gwen in confusion. "Is she in trouble or something?"

Gwen paused, shock and disbelief clearly written on her face. "You're sure it was this woman?"

The girl nodded again, starting to look irritated. "Positive."

Gwen pulled out a card with her mobile number on it and gave it to the girl. "If you see her again would you give me a call? Thanks," she murmured as she hurried out of the store leaving the water she hadn't paid for and forgetting the picture. She needed to get back to the hub right away.

***

Gwen hurried into the hub to see Ianto coming out of Jacks office. "Ianto, we may have a lead." She absentmindedly straightened out his lapel that was turned to the inside of his suit coat, not noticing or perhaps just ignoring the slight flush on his cheeks.

Digging through a drawer at her desk she continued talking. "I stopped in at a store to get a bottle of water."

Jack came out of his office just as she found what she was looking for. She held a picture of Tosh in front of the men's faces. "This is the person we are looking for."

The two men glanced at each other then back at her. "What do you mean?"

The identical looks of confusion brought a smile to Gwen's face. "The market, it must have been the one that Tosh would shop at because the check-out girl recognized her from a picture that fell out of my wallet. She said to tell her that she really liked her new hair cut." Understanding was dawning on both men now. "This woman was in the store last night, and she had an American accent."

Without a word Ianto moved to the nearest computer and started pulling up Tosh's Torchwood employment file. He quickly scanned the contents with a worried frown on his face.

Jack and Gwen followed to stand behind him. "What are you looking for?"

"Tosh's family background check." Ianto stayed intent on the screen, pulling up file after file of information. "There seems to be some information missing."

Just then the rift alarm went off. Ianto quickly pulled up the rift monitor. "Three, make that four life forms, small. Over on Ty-mawr Road. Sending the coordinates to the SUV."

"Okay. Gwen, you and I will go check it out. Ianto stay here and let us know if you find anything." Ianto had already turned back to Tosh's files before the other two had even left the hub.

***

Sometime later Jack and Gwen made it back bringing a couple pizzas with them. "Those were sheep?" Gwen voice was full of disbelief as she looked at Jack doubtfully. "Orange and black striped wool with a sabre-toothed head."

"Tolien sheep. War like race, remember? They thought the sheep were cute and also enjoyed the fight for their next meal." He walked over to lightly massage Ianto's shoulders where he was still sitting at the computer but now surrounded by a stack of written files as well. "Have you found anything?"

Ianto pointed to the screen as Gwen walked up on his other side. "There appears to be information gaps in the computer files and I don't understand how they got there. I pulled the written files to crosscheck the information and came across a number of discrepancies." He turned to look at them both. "Long story short, Tosh has an American cousin that apparently looks exactly like her."

Gwen looked surprised. "And there's no mention of this in any of the computer files?"

"Nope. I came across a few more inconsistencies and have started reading through the back up files to see if I can fill in the holes."

Jack squeezed his shoulder. "Nice work, Ianto. What have you found out about this cousin so far?"

"Nothing. She doesn't exist."

"What do you mean?" Gwen never understood how he did it, but found it was truly amazing how Ianto managed to pull random facts on anything out of seemingly nowhere. That he couldn't find any information on this woman was beyond belief, impossible.

"I've only just started, but haven't been able to find any computer records on this woman at all." Ianto turned back to the computer with a frustrated but determined look on his face. "Everyone has a computer trail of some kind. Phone records, credit cards, school records. But I can't even track down this woman's name."

"Birth records?"

"Nothing."

Jack could almost see the thoughts whirling at top speed through Ianto's head as he stared at the computer screen and knew that Ianto would work non-stop until he solved the mystery. "Okay, but come and eat something before you continue digging." Jack pulled a reluctant Ianto out of the chair and drew him towards the coffee table where they had set the pizzas.

***

Kat whipped around and stared with surprise as a musical tone chimed from a computer sitting in a darkened corner of the work area. It was set to warn her if it detected the same energy signature as the low velocity scan she had monitored last night that Torchwood was using. She hurriedly pulled up the display to see where the reading was coming from, scrolling through the readings with a sharp eye before sighing with frustration. According to the readings the scan was coming from the computer system itself. There must be a glitch in her programming but she didn't have time to track it down right now, it was already past midnight. The Tolien Atomizer wasn't going to repair itself and she needed it to reach her goal.

Kat turned back to her workbench ignoring the little flash signalling the scan detection.


	3. Chapter 3

Gwen walked into the hub the next morning to find Ianto curled up asleep on the sofa with a blanket pulled up over his head. Jack waved at her from his office and she went over and sat down. "Has he been here all night?"

Jack nodded. He had been keeping an eye on him as Ianto had worked at the computer. "Around three this morning he started drooping into the keyboard so I forced him to take a short ten minute break and lie down on the couch. He's been asleep ever since." There was a soft smile on his face as he remembered. "He seemed to be pretty frustrated by what he was, or rather wasn't finding."

There was a strangled cry from outside of the office and both Jack and Gwen quickly turned to see Ianto jump up from where he had only seconds before been in a deep sound sleep to run over to the computer and punch in a series of computer codes. They both got up curiously and went to see what Ianto was doing.

"Do you see that!" He pointed excitedly at the monitor. "A silly mistake. I must have been tired. It's not a computer virus, it's a worm. A masterful piece of work. Just incredible." He paused and looked back and forth between his two team mates as if confused by their silence. "It was created to hunt down specific information and nibble it away. It would self-replicate as it followed data strings through the internet and just lay in wait for the word combinations it was programmed for. That's why there is no information about this cousin." Still silence from the others. "Oh, and I was able to hack into the security system at the warehouse."

Jack shook himself out of his reverie. "I haven't seen you this enthusiastic about something in a long time." There was a look in his eyes and a tone in his voice that made Ianto quirk his eyebrow and give Jack a 'this is not the time' look.

Gwen just rolled her eyes at the two men. "What are we going to do about this computer virus?"

"Worm." Ianto pulled up a program that started to scroll across the monitor. "Once I know how it's formatted I'll be able to modify it to hunt itself down and eliminate itself. It won't bring any of the information back, but it will stop it from disappearing anymore."

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "What about the security system? Can you tell what the cousin is securing?" He might be able to hotwire a pan-dimensional surfboard but computer viruses were something completely alien and mysterious to him.

"There's a firewall that I can't break through. I tried everything I know and a few things I didn't know." He gave a small smile. "But the only thing I could get to was the security overview program." He pulled up a schematic of the warehouse on the computer. "Here is the security layout of the warehouse." He hit a few keys and red dots appeared around the edges of the warehouse. "These are outside security cameras. There are no cameras inside so I don't have actual footage of what's in the warehouse." He hit another key and green dots appeared at various points inside the rear half of the warehouse. "These appear to be remote transport beacons. I assume they are set up around the items stored inside the warehouse. If I can get close enough to them I believe I can disrupt the transport program." He pressed another key and a solid blue box appeared in the front quarter of the warehouse. "There is extra security around this area, bio-locks as well as an extremely high energy shield. It could be anything from a holding cell to a weapons room. I tried everything I knew to get through the security firewall but nothing worked."

Jack noticed the considering glint in Iantos eye and knew he was already coming up with other things to try to get past the firewall. Ianto didn't like not knowing something and usually stopped at nothing to find out the information he wanted. But just then the rift alarm started to sound. Ianto quickly pulled up the activity program. "Small, metallic. The energy signature is the same as your Tolien sheep. Again on Ty-mawr Road."

Jack ran to his office and grabbed his coat. "Ianto, get over to the warehouse and watch for activity. Gwen and I will go grab the tech." He looked over at Ianto. "Do not go into the warehouse. We don't know how many people she's working with or how deep the security is."

"Yes, sir." Their eyes caught and held for just a heartbeat before Jack was gone with Gwen racing to keep up with his long strides.

***

Kat grabbed her bag and was out the door within seconds of the rift alarm going off. This was it, she knew it, she could feel it. The energy signature was correct as was the mass of the object. Torchwood would not be taking this object from her.

She ran through every red light weaving her way through the early morning traffic and didn't stop or even slow down for the stop signs, leaving a number of irate drivers in her wake. She pulled up the coordinates on the navigation system in her car and saw she was very close. Slowing slightly she started scanning the area for trouble as she neared the coordinates. No sign of Torchwood. Excellent.

She brought the car to a halt and jumped out of the vehicle. The scanner in her hand pointed her in the correct direction. Taking just two steps forward she saw it. The most beautiful bit of machinery that had ever come through the rift just lying in the grass a few metres away. It was the focusing key that she had been waiting for.

The screech of tires rounding a curve drew her attention. The Torchwood SUV was speeding around the corner and heading her way. Running forward she grabbed up the focusing key and tucked it safely into the messenger bag slung securely across her chest.

The SUV slammed to a halt as she raced back to her vehicle. She pulled out her gun and squeezed off a couple rounds in their general direction. Not caring about the traffic moving along the road behind them. She wasn't aiming, just keeping them from trying to stop her. The dark haired woman ducked down behind the dashboard, but the man opened his door and started to step out. Kat took direct aim at his head and squeezed off one more round. She felt the kick of the gun as the bullet left the chamber and saw the man's head suddenly stop and jerk back as the bullet hit it's mark. Pausing for just a split second she allowed herself a cold smile before jumping in her car and taking off down the street. They wouldn't be following her any time soon.

She headed back to the warehouse at a far more sedate pace than she had taken on the way out, already hearing sirens in the distance, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself than she already had. The thrill of victory was dancing through her veins as she pressed her hand against the focusing key through the thick fabric of the messenger bag. It was time to go to work she thought with a smile. All those years of waiting and preparing and the time to act was almost here.

As soon as she reached the warehouse she pressed a button and a garage door started to slide open. She pulled directly into the warehouse, quickly parking and getting out of the car. Staying here was no longer an option. Torchwood would not take kindly to the fact that one of their own had been killed and Kat knew that the hunt for her whereabouts would be quick, thorough and deadly. It was time to move on to her next location. One more old warehouse before reaching her goal and then she could transport herself to a warm, sunny holiday locale.

Hurrying over to her workbench she started grabbing up tools and storing them in their specialized travel cases.

The sudden clamour of the rift alarm caused her to pause in her work to silence the alarm, hitting the end key. She didn't need to check out anymore rift activity and went back to her preparations. Finishing quickly with the tools she turned to another computer, pulling up the remote transport program set up around the storage area and starting the activation series.

The rift alarm went off again, it's jarring alert causing Kat to turn and snarl at it. Hitting the end key with an angry finger she quickly disabled the alarm before turning back to the transport program. Something was interfering with her signal.

She started a quick diagnostic program running before pulling up a readout on the security system. Her blood ran cold before it slowly started to boil. There it was, that low energy scan that Torchwood was using. They must have sent out two teams. One to pick up the Tolien artefact and another to sabotage her warehouse. Pressing a few keys, she quickly pulled up a life signs reading, exhaling sharply as a light flashed inside the rear half of the warehouse. She silently berated herself for not checking the security system as soon as she got in, but now was not the time to worry about her careless lapse in judgment.

Pulling out her gun she checked the security scan again. The activity was along the far wall the warehouse where someone was apparently working to sabotaged the portable transport devices she had installed. This agent was foolish. They would not be leaving the warehouse under their own power. If they were leaving the warehouse at all it would be in a body bag.

***

"C'mon, Jack. Wake up." Gwen held tightly to the steering wheel as the SUV raced around another corner. Groaning silently to herself she tapped her comlink. "Ianto, can you hear me?" There was no reply. "Hurry up, Jack." She was rewarded with Jack drawing in a gasping breath as he jerked back to life. "It's about time. I've lost contact with Ianto."

Jack looked around. "She shot me." He sounded surprised.

"Yes, she did. And it's a good thing you fell back into the van because otherwise I would have left you at the side of the road. You're no featherweight, Jack."

"Where are we?"

Gwen pulled the SUV up next to a warehouse and stopped the vehicle. "We're here. Now get out of the van and help me find Ianto. I've gotten nothing but dead air since he checked in on arrival."

Jack was all business as he checked his gun and grabbed a scanner from the back of the SUV. "I told him to not go inside the building."

"Yeah, well situations change and opportunities arise. Now is your com working?" As Jack shook his head Gwen held a scanner in front of her trying to get a reading from the warehouse. The scrambled signal she received back told her nothing. She tossed the scanner back into the van and moved towards the warehouse with her gun drawn.

"No scanning, no com so we're going in blind." Jack had his own gun drawn and ready. "We know the approximate layout of the building, storage in the back, a secure room to the left in front which leave offices or work space to the right. Do we know how many people there are?"

Gwen shook her head. "Ianto said there wasn't any activity when he got here, that the place looked deserted." She glanced at Jack and watched as he turned his focus inward briefly before returning his full attention to the warehouse in front of them.

Jack felt his senses sharpen as he carefully locked down and ignored the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him. Right now Ianto was a member of Torchwood not the man he cared about more than life itself. He knew that Ianto could take care of himself so he had to trust in that until they had this mess sorted out. "If Ianto is in there hopefully he's laying low in some closet but knowing him he's busy tapping into a computer on someone's desk out in plain sight."

They moved quickly to the main entrance of the warehouse, eying the security cameras, knowing it was possible that they were being watched. Gwen stood to one side as Jack crouched down and opened the door a crack to peer inside. "Clear." he murmured as he stood up and pushed his way in. They stood silently at the door carefully scanning the open area in front of them for movement. It was a work area, tables and benches, computers, and equipment with a car parked on the far right side next to a large rolling door. They were standing next to a wall with a single door leading into the secure area. The far wall had a larger double door leading into the main warehouse.

Jack motioned to the single door. Keeping an eye on the double doors he led the way towards the secure area. The door looked normal enough, didn't seem to have any extra locks. Gwen stood to one side with her gun ready and nodded at Jack. He reached out a hand to turn the door knob when a burst of gunfire crashed through the silence of the warehouse.

Gwen whipped her head around to look in the direction of the gunshots. "Ianto." They both ran to the other set of doors and cautiously pushed them open. Row upon row of shelves and equipment blocked their view of the area. Shots rang out again echoing around the cavernous warehouse, the hard surfaces reflecting the sound from all directions.

"Can you tell where the shots came from?" Gwen asked quietly as she looked around trying to calculate their direction.

"No." He pointed to the right. "You circle around that way. I'll go this way. Remember, Ianto's out there."

***

Kat moved quietly across the catwalk high above the floor of the warehouse. The scanner in her hand showed exactly where the Torchwood agent was located and she moved confidently towards the back of the warehouse knowing that the shadows near the ceiling hid her approach. Catching a glimpse of the young man as he moved between the shelves she shot twice, not worrying about giving her position away. He already knew she was there and she was still far enough away that the shots would echo around the warehouse so he wouldn't be able to pinpoint her location.

Her measured pace brought her quickly to the far end of the catwalk where she caught another glimpse of the man and waited for the agent to make his move. He didn't. He stood still, between two shelves, and she couldn't get him into her line of sight. The catwalks ran in all directions across the ceiling and he had found the one and only blind spot in the entire warehouse.

She pushed down her frustration and allowed a cold and calculating smile enter into her voice as she called out, "Hello Torchwood. You came all this way and you don't want to come out and see me?" There was no movement, no sound as the echo of her voice faded away. She growled in anger and fired her gun again.

Kat knew his communications were down so he wouldn't be able to call for help and checked her scanner to see where the rest of his team was. As expected, two more life signs were circling around from the left and the right. There were three agents here now and soon there would be more. Cold fury starting to boil up inside her. Outnumbered. She just wanted to stay and kill the entire Torchwood unit, but it was time to make a strategic retreat. The rage she felt was all encompassing but she knew she was smarter than they were and instead turned and made her way back towards the front of the warehouse. The three agents were at the far side of the warehouse so she knew she would be able to make it, unseen, to the exit and her transport.

She hurried down the stairs and ran to her work bench. At least they hadn't discovered the Atomizer. The monitor was large and cumbersome so she left it and grabbed up the slightly smaller body of the Atomizer to haul it across the room to the door of the secure area. Balancing the mechanism on one hip she pressed her hand against the door, the bio-lock immediately allowing her entry. She set the Atomizer on the transport platform and turned quickly to go back for the monitor.

"Stop right there."

The hard voice came from the open door. She didn't think but immediately stepped back onto the platform pulling out her gun at the same time hitting the emergency transport button. She managed to fire off two shots before she disappeared into nothing.

***

Jack stood in the doorway watching in amazement as the woman took a couple wild shots at him before disappearing through the transport device. He had frozen and hadn't made any move to stop her. He couldn't. She had looked too much like Tosh and he hadn't been prepared to shoot at a friend.

He felt Gwen and Ianto moving in behind him. "Jack…" That's when he noticed the high pitched whine coming from the transport platform. Taking a step back he pushed them away from the open door just as the transport machine exploded. The force of the explosion threw him back into the work area where he was slammed to a stop against a heavy table then cut through by a hail of shrapnel.

There was very little heat and smoke from the explosion as there was nothing left of the transport to burn but the copious amounts of dust in the air made breathing difficult. Coughing, Gwen and Ianto pushed away the pieces of crumbled wall that had protected them from the most deadly bits of shrapnel and scrambled over to where Jack lay mutilated and bloody on the floor. The explosion followed by shrapnel had hit Jack square on, and his face, chest, and thighs were a mess. Gwen checked for a pulse. "He's dead. That bitch has killed him twice now."

Through the ringing in his ears Ianto heard an unmistakeable beeping coming from a computer against the wall. He grabbed at Jacks body, struggling to hoist it over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, unmindful of the blood that was soaking into his already ruined suit. "That would be the automatic self destruct that she has wired into the building. We may want to leave before it goes off. I don't know how much I was able to reprogram before she came back and interrupted me."

Gwen led the way, quickly leading Ianto through the unsteady footing of the warehouse out to where the SUV offered shelter.


	4. Chapter 4

A heavy mist had started falling making the damaged warehouse appear fuzzy in the hazy morning light. Gwen sat behind the wheel of the SUV with Ianto sitting sideways in the passenger seat, his legs hanging out the open door as he kept his eyes on Jack.

Jack lay sprawled across the back seats of the SUV, his torn and bloody shirt and ripped pants making him look like an extra from 'Night of the Living Dead'. He turned his head and looked at the warehouse. The left side of the building was blackened and scarred while the rest of the warehouse appeared undamaged. "Have you called UNIT yet? They'll want to go through the contents of the warehouse. Try to figure out what the woman wanted."

Gwen nodded absentmindedly, deep in her own thoughts as she sat watching the mist bead up on the hood of the SUV.

"I let her get away." Jack said quietly, tilting his head back against the seat. "She looked so much like Tosh that I couldn't shoot her." He couldn't meet their eyes.

"None of us could have done it." Gwens voice was soothing. "At least we have an idea of who she is, where she comes from."

Jack shook his head. "We know nothing about her."

Ianto shifted in his seat and pulled out a small square book. "Her name is Katsumi Sato, born March 5th, 1973. Her parents were Jun and Suni Sato, now both deceased. Katsumi's mother was a high school science teacher and her father worked for a government think tank in New York City. They were killed twenty years ago by a squad of UNIT soldiers." He looked at the other two in the vehicle with him. "Her diary. She has it written out like an autobiography. Almost as if to reaffirm who she was, as if she didn't want to disappear." He paused and pulled out an alien device from the glove box and ran it across the closed book before handing the book to Jack. "You'll want to make sure UNIT gets it as soon as they arrive." He slipped the scanner into an inside pocked of his torn suit coat, saving the information until he could download it later.

There was silence in the car while everyone took in the fact that the unknown enemy they had been chasing now had a name and a face and a story as to why she was doing what she was doing.

Ianto plucked at a rip in his now very damp pants. The cool wetness feeling good against the angry heat of a deep gash across his shin. "I managed to download the contents of her computer into a file back at the hub before she showed up. She wasn't very careful with the security on it. It was pretty one sided. There was no way I would have gotten any information by hacking in from the outside but I could get anything I wanted by pulling it up on the machine itself. Rather careless of her."

"Ianto, you are amazing." Gwen gave him a warm smile.

Jack sat up straighter. "Did you find an inventory list of any kind?"

Ianto nodded. "There are extensive notes documenting each and every item in the warehouse with a listing of other items that appear to be at other locations."

"Does it say where the locations are?"

"Nope. There are no places or dates listed anywhere in the system. One thing I should mention is that she has been tracking the Tolien debris for the past three years and has accumulated quite a vast store of weaponry. One of the most disturbing is a Tolien Atomizer. She had it noted that there was just one piece she was still missing before the weapon would be operational." His voice was cool and steady. "I believe that piece is the one that came through the rift this morning." Jack's face had paled as Ianto spoke.

Gwen glanced at him, worried. "What does the atomizer do?"

Jacks low voice caused shivers to run down her spine. "Anyone, anywhere can be made to disappear in an instant. Vanish without a trace. No body, no evidence. There is no way to defend yourself from it, no place you can hide from it. Locked rooms, different planet, even a time jump… It will find you and you will be gone."

"Oh my god. How many were on that ship?"

Cool blue eyes drilled into her. "They are illegal by decree of the Shadow Proclamation. Anyone found with one is subject to instant death. No trial." He took a breath. "If the Toliens had even one it was one too many."

"We may not need to worry about it though." Ianto shifted slightly under the gaze of his team mates. "I think I may have broken it."

Gwen looked at him in confusion. "Care to explain?"

Ianto pulled his legs into the van and turned to sit staring out the front window. "Well, Jack said she had just set something onto the transport platform and was going back for more when he tried to stop her. If you had spent the past three years searching down parts and building such a powerful weapon wouldn't that be the first thing you tried to rescue from being found?"

"So she took it with her. She got the last piece of the puzzle today so she grabbed the atomizer and took off." Gwen looked at him quizzically. Why was there a small smile on his face?

"Well, I didn't know what it was when I was in there and it looked sort of interesting on the worktable so I opened it up. It had a series of chips and fibre optics and, well, the rift alarm went off startling me and I knocked it over. I tried to put the chips back in, but ended up with a good handful of extra ones that I didn't have time to replace." He pulled a large handful of small bits of plastic from his pocket. They looked like sim cards from a mobile phone. "I noticed it was gone as we were leaving the building."

Jack had a wide smile across his face. "Ianto, I love your curiosity." He squeezed his torso between the two front seats and planted a big kiss on Ianto's surprised mouth.

Flashing lights announced the arrival of UNIT. Jack eased back between the seats and out of the SUV and went to meet them.

Ianto watched as Jack pointed to the warehouse and spoke for a long time to a group of men, handing one of them the diary. "The woman looked exactly like Tosh," he said softly. His voice empty of emotion.

"We'll be ready next time." Gwen was as shaken by that fact as he was.

They sat and watched Jack as he walked back to the SUV. "We were never here. Let's go."

Gwen started the van. "What are we going to do about Katsumi?"

"We'll worry about that tomorrow, but for now, let's go home."

The End?

__________________________________

A/N: I thought that this would make an interesting story line for an actual Torchwood episode which brought up the thought that maybe I had better state an actual Torchwood disclaimer. So, to state the obvious: I have no ties to Torchwood or it's affiliates.


End file.
